Max and the Flock's Apocalypse Blog
by kellythefangirl
Summary: Maximum Ride decides that she is going to tell the story herself to the general public this time when she tries to save the world-and apparently that means writing her own blog. (Fax)
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! This is my first Maximum Ride story... there will usually be more content (or plot...) per chapter than this... but anyway, I hope you like it! Please review :)) -Kelly**

I used to actually be somebody, you know.

I used to be the girl that had (sort of) saved the world, or at least our world. Maybe not yours. Sorry about that.

I, at the very least, used to be the somewhat unofficial leader of our island.

And now I'm the tenant in Room 204 of the Hampton Inn, renting a double room for the last two weeks.

I, Maximum Ride, haven't had the best month.

Right now, as I sit here, Fang's looking over my shoulder from the chair next to the bed I'm sitting on (yes, I see you, stop it, it's unnerving)… he's stopped now. Thank you, Fang… Iggy and Gazzy went out a while ago on food duty, going to the nearest store with my mother's credit card she may or may not know that we have. Ella, Nudge, and Angel are watching some show that sounds like a slumber party being blasted through the house… Nudge says it's called Girl Code, I call it Hell. Dylan is talking to Total in the next room, about what I have no idea. Probably something educated… at least I know that I wouldn't want to know what they're talking about… and I'm sitting here, typing on our semi-legally-owned laptop. Thank you, Institute, for your involuntary donation to our cause.

So I know that most of you are Fang fangirls (Fang-girls? I don't know) that clicked on a link on Fang's blog, so welcome to Max's Blog. (Fang is mine, by the way, so hands off, please and thank you.) Before you ignore this blog, I want you to think for a second. Why the heck would I want to talk to people who've only been drooling over my boyfriend for the last nearly three years? Because you all need to know what's going on. I know you've been watching the news, but if I were you, I wouldn't trust them as far as I… well, as far as you could throw them. I know that you know that something's happening that's bigger than just freak accidents, because what happened the last time there were signs of an apocalypse? Oh, yeah, an apocalypse.

So keep reading. You might just live through your second end of the world if you do.

—Max


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey! This is Kelly... um, happy December? :) Enjoy! (and obviously I don't own anything)**

Oh, hello. So you're back. (I actually don't know if you're back, because I'm still typing this on my laptop, but you get the picture.) So I know it's only one day later, and that's just a little pathetic, like hey, look at me, I started a blogPLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO ME, but I just want to get what just happened to us out of the way before any action picks up again (and I'm not sure how much time I'll have before it does). So this is when you get to find out why we're basically squatting in a cheap hotel.

So it happened about two weeks ago, when I was completely innocently sitting on the porch of my tree house with Fang (oh, wait, I want to make you jealous. Nope, we were making out, no innocence involved whatsoever, ha ha) and Angel flies up to us and tells me that my mom wanted to see all of us.

"Why?" I asked.

"I don't know, but she says it's important," Angel said.

"Didn't you, um… read what it was?" I asked her. I mean, normally I don't support mental invasion, especially because Angel's sort of a power junkie, but, you know, if it's beneficial (oh, God, I'm an enabler to a nine-year-old)…

"No, she's trying very hard to think about other things," Angel said nervously.

I sighed. "Okay, um, we'll be right there, Angel. Go get the rest of the flock," I told her, and she prepared to jump back into the air. "Wait!" I said. She stopped. "Tell everyone to pack a bag."

"Why?" she asked, eyes wide.

"It's just a precaution, sweetie. I'm just paranoid." I didn't mention how often I was right about my hunches. I didn't have to—she could read my mind. When she was gone, I turned to Fang, or where he should've been, but he was already across the branch connecting his house to mine. I sighed and walked inside my house, which by the way was totally awesome and I'm so annoyed I can't go back. (Oops, spoilers.) I grabbed a backpack from my bedroom floor and shoved some random clothes in, and the cell phone Mom gave me during her obsessive parenting thing a few years ago, and this laptop. I went to the kitchen and shoved the first food I could find that wouldn't go bad into the bag until it was full. I met Fang outside and we headed to my mom's office in the caves. I just realized that I have absolutely no idea how she gets up there. Huh.

"Angel said you wanted to talk to us, Mom?" I asked when we walked in, hoping this would be quick. Between the lab coats and the enclosed space, I was ready to punch the first thing that moved. My mom looked up from what looked like a radar scanner and frowned at me. Uh-oh.

"Max, come look at this," she said.

"What?" I asked, looking over her shoulder. I could see some red dots coming closer to a small highlighted circle in the middle of a black area.

"The circle is us," my mom said. "Red dots indicate human, and orange indicate almost-human." I looked closer and I could see many orange dots and a few red dots on the circle, too. Oh, nice. I'm almost-human. I prefer Avian American.

"So… there's humans coming to the island? But they can't get through the magic force field thingy," I said.

My mom rolled her eyes. "It's ozone debris, which should keep them out, but there might be some kind of new technology that we aren't aware of—"

"Uh, Mom?" Ella said from the door. "There's people on the shore."

"Yes, I know," Mom said.

"Dr. Martinez," a boy that came in after Ella said, "they've got guns."

That made her pay more attention. "Get everyone in the caves," she said.

"What?" I exclaimed. "We're just going to give them a literal barrel to shoot into? That's your plan?"

"Max, not now," she said.

"Wait," I said.

"This isn't the time to argue, Max!" she shouted.

"Just listen!" I shouted even louder. "The ozone debris—it only keeps things in, right? We could get out, right?"

"Yes, but Max, if we leave we can't get back in," she said.

"Okay, well, we can't just sit in the caves," I said, feeling slightly shut down by the point of no return thing. "We should fight."

"She's right," Fang said. "We can fight." Ah, he speaks—finally. I could've used backup before then.

**So now you're going to complain about how I help you?**

My blog! You have your own! Anyway, sorry about him. Honestly, I thought he'd stopped reading over my shoulder. As I was saying…

"Get everyone in the caves," she repeated to Ella. She looked from Mom to me (at least she was conflicted) before running out.

"Okay," Mom said. "You all, go, now." We did—following Ella to the PA system, which she shouted a warning into before going towards the tunnel to the city part of the caves herself. We had lived in there for around a month right after Apocalypse Number One, which I am now calling it because soon there'll probably be another one to confuse it with, well, hopefully not but you get the picture.

Just for the record, I was right—it was suicide to go into the caves. Because within five minutes, the guys with guns figured out what we were doing and shot at the doors as the kids were filing in.

Ugh, after two years, I'd started to think maybe we could live out whatever time scientists had decided that we had left in peace. Apparently not.

But all hell broke loose, as you'd expect. A bomb went off near the entrance, which we were thankfully still far away from. Some kids with wings just flew away. Most of the kids without an escape type of enhancement were either killed or already inside the caves, and I don't really know what happened to them yet. I didn't want to think about it, and I couldn't anyway, because before the others really even knew what was going on, I was running. They followed me to the cliff, and I jumped, the others following my lead, and we flew away from it just as quickly as the other bird kids had. After about twenty feet, Iggy shouted, "MAX, I'M NOT LEAVING ELLA!"

So I'd forgotten about my sister. Yes, I understand that I'm a horrible person, no need for hate comments.

"Can you carry her?" I asked him, sounding somewhat annoyed probably.

"Um, maybe?" he said.

I sighed. "Fang, help him." He nodded and they both flew back to the ground and grabbed her.

"Max, we can't leave or we can't come back! What about Mom?" Ella asked.

"Ella, if we go back there, we'll all die!" I shouted. "Mom can take care of herself. You know that," I added. It was a total lie, of course, but oh well.

And we flew until we were about a hundred miles away and on dry land.

"Where are we even?" Gazzy asked when we landed.

I shrugged and sat on the ground. "I think maybe like Hawaii?"

"Then where is everybody?" he asked.

I shrugged again. The wise and powerful leader, that's me.

"What are we going to do?" Ella asked, nervously looking around at the empty field we were all standing in.

"Um, I don't know, sleep?" I said. They all looked at me like I was insane. "I'm serious. We'll need any strength we can get, because someone wants us dead yet again. Just like old times."

"Great," Iggy muttered. "This is just what we needed." He and Ella walked about ten feet away and settled down in the grass. The others quietly started to disperse, and soon only Fang and I were awake.

"So what do you think?" he asked me. "Who is it now?"

I sighed. "I don't know," I said. "We can talk tomorrow, right? Not now?"

"Yeah," he said, and we both went to sleep (together… take that Fang-girls)…

The next day involved a lot of flying around the islands of Hawaii and eating my pathetic provisions, which turned out to be Cheerios and protein bars, both of which Gazzy made gagging noises at and immediately regretted doing so when Iggy took them from him. And if I can be completely honest, Hawaii wasn't what it used to be. The end of the world had not been kind to it, and I think it might've gotten some of the effects of the island. We did find the boardwalk from the horrifically awkward first date, though. Did he tell you about that? Maybe he didn't want to make you mad… well, it ended in gunfire, so you can be assured that it didn't go very well. We finally found a hotel and we've been hiding here while we fight over who it could be.

I'm waiting for news or possibly word from Mom. Until then, nothing eventful.

See you next time things get interesting. Shouldn't take long.

—Max


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello! Hope you all enjoy, please review, and I don't own this...okay bye! -Kelly**

Hello girls of the Internet. Iggy here. (Actually, it's Gazzy and Iggy's dictating like I'm his secretary or something. Iggy's visually challenged and keyboarding would be sort of an issue.) Max is temporarily unavailable. Extremely temporarily. As in she's in the shower and I'm uploading this secretly.

Because she's definitely not telling you everything.

For example, she isn't telling you that no matter how many times she tells us explicitly there is a BOYS ROOM AND A GIRLS ROOM, there's ONE boy who gets to break that rule. Can you imagine who that is, dear readers of our fearless and hypocritical leader? Let me give you a hint—his name is Fang.

Okay, look, I understand if she doesn't want us like assuming or whatever, but like… if he gets to go over there and um… hang out with Max, why can't I… hang out with Ella? Totally unfair. Like, it's nepotism. Does that apply to your boyfriend? I don't know, whatever. (I love how he thinks I don't know what they're doing. 'Hanging out' my ass. I'm eleven, and he's the one who told me about that stuff anyway. I mean, he lost a bet with Dylan and Fang, but still.)

It's not just that, though, it's that she isn't telling _us_ everything, let alone you. Max has always had this huge superiority complex, but this is getting ridiculous. I mean, we've been here for three freaking weeks and we still don't know squat about what we're even going up against. Maybe all of us don't just want to sit around and

Sorry, but Max came out of the shower and chased us around for her laptop. We've now locked ourselves in the bathroom. Max is pounding on the door. We fear for our lives. (Why do I let him get me into this stuff?) But anyway, why can't we actually fight these guys? This is so not like Max. She says she's working on who they are, and that we can't just jump in because we don't know where to go, but I just want to punch something.

Oh, crap, she's calling me James Griffiths. I'm really in trouble now. I'd better go. Goodbye, ladies, just remember that Max isn't as benevolent as she makes herself out to be. (Just because she doesn't want him to bang her sister? I don't think that counts as cruel. —Gazzy)

—Iggy

I am so, so very sorry for him. I swear to God I will strangle him the next time that the opportunity presents itself. He'd better be careful, though, because we live in the same house—well, hotel.

So Fang and I _have_ been working, despite what Iggy would have you believe (honestly, does he think we just make out all day? If we did, he'd have died of starvation by now because the boy can barely get himself a bowl of cereal. He's seventeen for God's sake), on who's still alive and evil and has the resources to storm the island.

"Okay, so we've got all the usual suspects," Fang said last night while we were WORKING ONLY, IGGY. "Itex, the DG, whoever the hell was trying to kill me for my freaky immortality key…"

"Oh, my God, I forgot about that," I said, because hey, when you're under the impression no one was still trying to kill you, you don't have to catalogue motivations of psycho killers. Which include your own (I shudder at the word) father, Dr. Jeb Batchelder. Ugh. I haven't decided if I wanted him to have survived the attack on the island yet.

"Yeah, well, Itex was destroyed…"

"Yeah, well, so was the world, according to the scientists, but that didn't seem to happen, considering we're renting a hotel," Fang said.

I looked at him in annoyance. "Do you just start talking when you want to debunk my theories, or…?"

He grinned and kissed me. "That won't get you off the hook every time," I said, still glaring at him. (Why, yes, I_ am_ leaving this part in to make you jealous, Fang-girls. Oh, and fine, I guess we were working 98% of the time. Of course, 2% can change a lot. We're all living proof of that.)

"Are you sure?" he asked, and kissed me again.

"Yes," I grumbled, resolve admittedly wavering a little (shut up Iggy). "This could be something new, you know," I reminded him. "We used to have several baddies at a time."

"Yeah, but most of them are dead," he said.

"Ooh, could you check how many are alive?" I asked him. He nodded and started to type. After a while, I sighed and said, "Could you take that into the boys' room? I really want to sleep."

He smiled and kissed my head. "I'll take first watch while I work then."

"Ugh, wake up Iggy when you're done," I moaned, collapsing onto the bed and kicking off my shoes.

He rolled his eyes as he walked back into the boys' room. "Night, Max," he said, closing the door. I fell asleep but was shaken awake at a little after 1 a.m., about an hour and a half into my much-desired 'good night of sleep'. (Ha-ha. That's like never happened in my life ever.) "Here's the thing about our suspect list," he said excitedly. (I know right—Fang, excited? That's what woke me up.) He dropped his voice to a whisper as Nudge threw a pillow at his head. "They're all dead or disbanded."

I sat up and took the laptop. Sure enough, it was all right there in front of me—none of them were still active.

"Did you check Gunther-Hagen and Chu?" I asked him. Of course, they were among the lamer of our enemies, but it was worth a shot.

"Well, you saw G-H die, and I checked Chu—gone, too. But did you know Brigid worked for him?" he asked me in slight shock.

I sat up straighter. "I TOLD YOU!" I shouted, earning three pillows thrown at my head by Nudge, Ella, and Angel respectively. "Sorry," I whispered, but I smiled smugly at Fang as he glared evenly at me. "I knew nothing good would come out of your crush on Red-Haired Wonder Number 2."

"Number 2?" he asked.

"There was that girl in Virginia, and then the **_21-year-old_** doctor who was a bad guy anyway," I said. "Got a thing for redheads?" I joked. I joked to hide my secret deep-rooted fear. (I'm only kind of joking.)

"Obviously not," he whispered, pulling me to him. I pushed him away.

"There's a nine-year-old who can read minds in this room," I said, smirking.

"Ooh, then I'm really in trouble," he said. It took me a while to get it, but he got a pillow to the face when I did. Angel could read _minds. "_What is up with you people?" he hissed, smoothing out his hair.

"You look like Justin Bieber when you do that, you know," I said, smirking again.

"He doesn't even have that hair anymore," he mumbled. "Shut up, there's a fourteen-year-old girl in my house, I have no choice but to know these things," he added defensively when I looked at him, clearly asking why the hell he knew Justin Bieber's current haircut.

"Whatever," I said, rolling my eyes. "Anyway… so this is something new?"

"Looks like it," he said. "We should check it out."

I groaned. "Can we check it out in the morning?"

He sighed. "Okay. I'll wake up Iggy so I can sleep, too," he said, and left for the second time. I drifted back to sleep, but woke up at six a.m. to Gazzy asking for breakfast, so that brings my sleep total to 6.5 hours. Yay.

So, there you go, Iggy, we haven't been sitting on our butts. We're looking into it. (I didn't know you read my blog, though. That's nice of you.) We're looking for new potential enemies right now. In the meantime, you need to trust us and wait. And stop complaining that I won't let you in the girls' room to 'hang out' with Ella.

—Max


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi! Please review, I love you all and I don't own Maximum Ride. -Kelly :)**

Welcome back, dear readers and readers who are not dear to me because they like my boyfriend. Maximum Ride here, with news.

We left the God-forsaken hotel. (Which, by the way, was not the Hampton Inn. That was a fake trail in case one of the guys from the island was monitoring this.) Our circumstances of leaving were a bit… interesting, though. Interesting as in fire and near-death experiences.

Sounds like another day in the life.

Our total stay in the hotel was three weeks and five days. I am glad to be out of there. But I'm also not glad that we are now back to Square 1, which looks eerily similar to my life at 14, which involved, as I would bet most of you are aware, being fugitives and dumpster diving and breaking into government facilities. Okay, so the last one hasn't happened again… yet.

No, right now we're in a real fancy log cabin.

Yup, sweet home Colorado. Sweet home log cabin with well-stocked shelves and an owner who either has a surprising amount of faith in humanity or a serious lack of funds, because that place is just as easy to break into now as it was three years ago. I'm getting serious deja vu here.

Okay, so. On Tuesday night (two days ago if you're reading this in the future, in which case: yay, there's a future!), we left the hotel for dinner and Internet cafe research because the flock was begging for caffeine, which was a surprising thing to want after dinner, but okay. Fang and I were hunched over the computer, searching online forums for crazy teenagers and science journals for any creepy new stuff on genetic engineering. Angel and Nudge were still trying to decide what they wanted, Angel calming down the customers behind them in line, who were mostly college kids attempting to stock up for a study night, I'd bet, because who the heck actually gets coffee at 7:30? Gazzy and Iggy were in the corner of the shop, bent over something that looked suspiciously explosive, and Ella was hovering behind Iggy, looking thoroughly fascinated. I smiled a little when I saw them—none of us could ever get away with going anywhere near the little pyros when they wanted to work, but she was always welcome, and I though it was really sweet. It was still my sister, though, and after his little commentary last week, I was still looking for strangling options. Total was behind Angel, staring at the walls, clearly bored out of his mind, and Dylan was brooding in a corner, which seemed like his favorite thing to do lately. Oh, wait, Dylan was Mr. Science Guy. Woohoo, he's useful! That's a new one.

"Hey, Dylan, have you heard anything about genetics lately, anything that would make them want us again?" I asked him. His head jerked up and he sighed. "Um, not that I can remember. I tried not to read that stuff, actually, it creeped me out, for obvious reasons." I nodded.

"Max?" Fang muttered, staring at the screen.

"Yeah?" I asked, turning back around, and then I saw it, too.

There was a message on the screen.

NO GOING BACK, MAXIMUM.

"What does it mean, no going—" I was cut off by a huge explosion coming from the east part of town—crap, the hotel. Good thing we had our bags. Everyone immediately looked at me, and then another message appeared.

GOODBYE.

"That's not very creative," Fang muttered.

"Not the time," I said, before shouting, "HIT THE FLOOR!"

The college kids and workers looked at me in surprise, but the flock, like good little mutants, all dropped to their hands and knees just as bullets came right through the glass. Coffee beans spilled all over the floor and one of the workers got hit. I glanced at him—he wasn't dead.

"Just stop the bleeding," I told the nearest non-flock member I saw. "They're not after you, they won't kill you."

"Who?" he asked me. I just shook my head and motioned to Fang up at the roof. Up and away. He nodded, and on 3 we both shot up into the air. The flock followed us and we all got out unscathed. There were guys in black jackets surrounding the cafe, who were now reloading and reaiming. Crap.

"MOVE!" I shouted, and we all flew away at top speed—well, not me, that would be kind of jerky to take off at warp speed—and we stopped about twenty miles away, on the closest island to America.

"Where do we go now?" Nudge asked.

"I don't know, um, California?" I said. "It's probably the closest."

"Uh, could we not stop there?" Iggy asked, and Gazzy nodded. "Genetic freaks going back to Itex HQ when there are guys going after genetic freaks probably isn't the best plan."

"Um, did I ask you?" I said, and he rolled his eyes. As much as I didn't want to admit it, though, he was right. "Umm, Colorado, then."

So there you go. It took us a couple days—the ocean fly-over was not fun at all, and we didn't sleep all that much even when we were over land, but we got here, and now we're squatting in the sadly under-protected cabin. It's close to two, and we just got here, and everyone but Fang is asleep (I see you again. You know, this'll be online shortly, you creeper, you can read it then) around me. I have the coveted place on the couch, which I claimed with leader status and threats. It's really dark now and I'm extremely tired. We (Fang and I) have to get up at dawn tomorrow, though, to get food before the others wake up and complain. So that brings the sleep total to 4 hours. Sigh.

—Max

(P.S. This is Nudge. I hacked this before it actually posted. Max isn't very tech-savvy, and it wasn't quite online yet, heehee. I just wanted to add that Fang was also on the couch with her. I believe that you all deserve Fax details, no matter how much she hates you for it. Okay? I'll help you for now. By the way, Max, using a variant of your name as a password is simply sad. All right, well, it's almost three in the morning, so I've gotta go, but yeah, so there you go with your Fax deets. Byeeee! —Nudge)


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi! Please review, I love you all, I don't own Maximum Ride, etc. etc. okay bye -Kelly**

Ugh, will people stop hacking into my account? And what the hell is a Fax?

I asked Nudge this in real life: my answers were 'um no because it's really fun' (sigh) and 'it's a couple name for you and Fang. See? Fang+Max=Fax.' (WTH?!)

Okay. Moving on. It's two days later, and we've moved into the mountains because while we were getting food, the people using this cabin showed up for Christmas. So apparently, that's coming up. This is what happens when you're on the run. No one knows what time of the year it is. Sigh. Anyway, they got a good look at 75% of the flock, so that's great, because there are crude sketches in a small town called Breckenridge's newspaper. Which is why we are now even further in hiding. Sigh.

That's pretty much it for now but

Okay, um, this is me again, several hours and two unconscious assassins later. Okay, so I'll explain.

I was just sitting here typing. It was like one in the morning (Sleep total 0 hours last night by the way) when I heard something and looked down from our tree. I saw something in the bushes and I had just enough time to wake up Fang before something flew through the air and stuck in the tree trunk right next to me. I looked over. It was a freaking knife. Not a butter knife that you use at the dinner table in happy normal families we don't have. Nope, I'm talking several inches long, sharp as hell murder weapons.

I groaned and shouted, "EVERYONE UP!" We all split, clearly, and the knives kept flying towards us in the sky as we just tried to dodge them. I was starting to worry about the huge, bulky target that Fang, Iggy, and Ella formed when the knives stopped coming. Everyone flew closer to me.

"Um, what do we do now?" Gazzy asked.

"Um, I'll check it out," I said, and flew slowly down back to the tree. I was barely on the ground when this guy in all black jumped out from behind the bushes and attacked me. He jumped on my back and I punched him in the face. He was knocked back, and I kicked him down. This other guy jumped me though, and held back my arms while the first guy punched me in the face. I brought up my feet to kick the guy, but the guy holding me started to choke me, so I decided that wasn't really the best idea. And then the guy holding me got pulled off of me. I knocked the first guy out with three hits and turned around to see Fang beating up on the second guy. "Trying to be the hero?" I asked him, a smirk on my face.

"Just thought you needed a little help," Fang grunted while he punched the guy.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, okay,"I said, and he smiled as he knocked the second guy out. Damseling was not my thing. I kicked the second guy again for effect.

"What do we do now?" Nudge asked me, staring at the unconscious knife guys.

"We wait for them to wake up," I said.

And they did—around four in the morning. Most of the flock and given up and went to sleep about an hour ago, and Fang, Iggy and I were the only ones still awake.

"Admit it," Iggy finally said. We both turned to look at him. "You like this, don't you?"

"Like what?" I asked.

"The fighting, the killers, the evil scientists—you were bored on the island, Max, we could all tell," he said. "We were only there for two years, but I'd bet if we'd been there for two more you'd be off your rocker."

"I don't like this—" I tried to say, but Iggy was on a roll.

"I mean, sure, I get it. You were used to a lot of things happening, and then suddenly all you could do was Fang."

"Sitting right here," he said quietly from the base of the tree about ten feet away. We pretty much ignored him, but I glared at Iggy for immediately jumping to the sex thing again. (Of which there **_was no thing_**, just for the record. Even I wouldn't say that to make you jealous, non-dear readers.)

"And now you love this. It's just like old times, right? I didn't particularly like those times. Just try to remember that Gazzy and Angel are only 11 and 9. And Ella's never really been in a fight until tonight. Try to think about that before you thank God for chaos."

"If you would let me talk!" I finally managed to shout over him. "I don't like this. I'll admit, I was bored. But that doesn't mean I'm going to run in the line of fire shouting, 'Hey! Shoot at me and everyone I care about!' And I know that we have little kids and Ella, okay? I get that you're worried about her. But you're going to have to put a little more faith in me than you are."

I tried to gauge his reaction, but his face showed no emotion, and his eyes never did. He sighed. "Yeah, whatever. I'll be over here." He sat over by another tree and leaned against it, finally shutting up. I had no idea what his problem was lately, but it was starting to concern me.

I went over to sit next to Fang and he just kept looking straight ahead, but he took my hand after a second. And then one of the guys started to groan a little. I stood up and grabbed one of the scary murder knives off the ground. "He's waking up," I announced.

Iggy snorted. "Thank you, Captain Obvious." I glared at him, and the guy sat up. I immediately pointed the knife at him and he blinked at me.

"Talk and we might let you live," I said harshly. I probably wouldn't have killed him, but he didn't have to know that exactly. He didn't talk, just kept looking at me with the same look in his eyes that Iggy had most of the time. I can only describe it as blank. There was no emotion in his eyes, and he wouldn't speak, so I was having difficulty.

I sighed and said, "You forced my hand." I made a little pinprick on his arm with the knife—there was a tiny dot of blood—and he just kept staring. I dragged the blade another half inch—a few drops this time—and he just kept looking at me. "I'm really not kidding. I will," I said, but the closer I was getting to having to go through with it, the less I was willing to. I dragged the blade another full inch before Fang stopped me.

"I don't think he can talk, Max," he said quietly.

The second guy woke up then, and we tried the same thing—nothing.

"Right, so guys that don't talk with lots of knives," I said, sitting down near all the other kids, who had woken up by now. I sighed. "Just what I need."

"Who even are they?" Ella asked.

"We should call them ninjas," Gazzy said. We all looked at him. "What? Silent knife-throwing guys in all black. Sounds like a ninja to me."

"Okay, I was looking for a leader and not a nickname, but thanks, Gazzy," Ella said.

"Yeah, how's that going?" Iggy asked, before adding, "I know you've gotten so much accomplished," the sarcasm very clear in his voice.

"Hey!" I said. "It's a little hard to research something you know absolutely nothing about. We don't even know what exactly they want."

"I know what I want," Gazzy grumbled. "Food."

"Oh, yeah, there's a McDonald's close by, Max, it's like a turnpike thing or something," Angel said eagerly. "Can we please go?" she asked, looking at me with the adorable eyes of deception I've learned to fear. She hasn't grown out of the puppy eyes yet.

I sighed. "Okay, let's get food. We'll just leave the Ninjas here," I said, making Gazzy smile proudly for having named the henchmen this time around. So I'm writing to you from the booth in the corner of a McDonald's, which are apparently literally everywhere, including mountains. Oh, wait a second, my laptop is being taken from

HEY GUYS! IT'S NUDGE, YOUR BENEVOLENT FAX PROVIDER! THE WHOLE TRIP HERE, FANG WAS WATCHING HER AND SHE DIDN'T EVEN SEE. HE'S LIKE TOTALLY IN LOVE WITH HER. THIS IS IN ALL CAPS SO IT STANDS OUT. OKAY I'LL SEE YOU SOON, BYE ALL! 3 Nudge ;)

Hi, it's Angel, and Max doesn't really hate you all for liking Fang. She actually likes it because it proves that no matter how many options he has, he still picks her, so she's secretly grateful to you.

Hello again, ladies, this is Iggy and I just skimmed through this and I really didn't come off in such a bad light in real life, she's twisting the story again—oh God, now she's twisting my arm, ow ow ow

Sorry, people. This is Max again. This is what happens when we cram eight people and a talking dog into two booths and try to get work done.

All right, well, I have an Egg McMuffin to eat and a flock to protect, so I'll see you next time.

—Max


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi! Please review, I don't own anything, enjoy!**

Hello, and welcome back. So I have a bit of an update, but I'm sorry if it's not all that exciting. Just a location update.

It's good to be home.

Here's the thing: I guess officially I don't really have a home. I've never really had one for an extended period of time—unless you call a dog crate a home, because I did live in one of those for over half my life. And I used to have a tree house for the last two years or so, but I'm betting that it got destroyed in the attack, because that's just my luck. It wouldn't matter anyway, because we can never get back to the island.

So I consider my real home to be our house in Colorado. Jeb's secret house in the mountains that he took us to after he got us out of the School, and we lived in until I was 14 and everything went to hell again.

We went back today. We decided it would be a smart thing to do—we didn't have anywhere else to go, and there wouldn't be anyone else in there because it's ours. I was a little nervous about seeing it again—that house meant safety to me, the happy years of my life, when no one was trying to kill us and my biggest worry was that someone would follow us home because of the amount of shoplifting that Nudge and I did back then. I used to take her along because she was very…resourceful. She sprayed a manager with the fire extinguisher once.

"Oh, my God, it looks the same!" Nudge squealed the second we could see it.

"There's a huge freaking hole in the back of it," Iggy muttered.

"Stop being all negative, we can fly into it easier now! Do you think my room's still the same, Max? What if someone came and like, stole everything or something? I mean, someone like us? Because I don't think that we all got onto the island, and people aren't in the best shape after the end of the world a couple years ago, but I hope everything's still there, because I left a lot of really cute clothes—oh, wait, they wouldn't fit me. Darn. I forgot how long ago it was, it seems like not very long, doesn't it? I mean, I'm 14 now. Hey, I'm the age you were when we left here? That's so weird, I used to think you were like, ancient. Oh, and Gazzy's my age that I was when we left. Was I really that little back then? OH, and maybe Angel's curtain fell, I hope it didn't, that was cute—" I covered her mouth as we landed nearby. Okay, I loved her dearly, but my God, did she need to shut up.

"We're all nervous, Nudge," I said. "It's okay."

"I'm not," Iggy said, snorting. "Honestly, guys, it's just a house." And with that, he flew right up to the gaping hole in the side from the Erasers all that time ago and landed inside the old house, continuing through to what looked like the living room. He probably just collapsed on the couch. Classic Iggy.

"Okay," I said, rolling my eyes. "Come on, guys."

So we went in, found some very old, very gross food in the cupboard that I think Iggy and Gazzy ate anyway (ew, I mean, there was mold on the mold), and the whole flock except me went to bed. I'm sitting in the living room as I type this, and it's around midnight. Maybe I could get six whole hours of sleep soon!

Oh, wait, I was wrong, Iggy just came down the stairs… he wants me to let him type. Okay, disclaimer: he's an idiot and I am not responsible for anything that he says. Okay, I'm giving it to him. Good luck.

Hello, ladies. And guys, I guess, but you're probably redirected from Fang's blog, and I didn't think anyone read that if they don't want to bang him. Well, I mean, if you do, that's cool, too, I'm just saying. Okay, I'm digging myself a hole and I'm going to stop now. Iggy here. Again, she's not telling you everything. And I'm really not this jerky. She's just uptight as hell. And she's got a major superiority complex going on. Just saying. I didn't really come down to talk to you, anyway, though, I came to talk to Max. A disclaimer: she's going to make it sound like it's all my fault, but it's not, okay? Cool. See you next time.

It's me, twenty minutes later in complete fury… I can't even comment, I'm just going to tell you exactly what happened.

So Iggy just barges down here, takes my laptop, starts typing, then gives it back and proceeds to say this.

"We shouldn't have come here," he said.

"Why not?" I asked him, already groaning internally because if the last few weeks were any indication—and they were—this wouldn't be good.

"It's the first place they would check," he said.

"Not if they were thinking that we wouldn't come back because of that," I said.

"They're henchmen, they're not playing complicated mind games! The Ninjas can't even talk! Oh, and by the way, why are we this stupid? Or more accurately, why are you this stupid?"

"Excuse me?" I exclaimed. "Listen to me, okay? We're still alive. We're not dying, and we're not in dog crates, and do you want to know why your ass is safe, _James_? ME. That's it—me. So how about you shut up and deal with it? Because the last time you guys talked to me like this, you kicked me out and then almost got yourselves killed. All right?"

Iggy just stared at me and walked back up to the boys' room. I flopped onto the couch and suddenly had a memory of falling asleep on this couch, only to wake up while Jeb carried me upstairs. I was 12 and way too big for that—I was almost 5'3" at that point—but I liked that he cared enough. That was one of those times I wanted him to be my dad… and by the time that he was… ugh.

And just now, I was interrupted by a knock on the door that made me jump about four feet. Fang was down the stairs in a second, and everyone else followed. I slowly motioned for him to follow me, and slowly we inched towards the door. We threw it open, expecting… Ninjas, evil scientists, the ghost of Jacob Marley, I don't know, anything but what we saw.

Because what we saw was Mom and Jeb.

I gaped at them as they stood in the doorway. Everyone was speechless. Jeb cleared his throat.

"Um, could we come in?"

So I've got stuff to do and people I don't know if I want to talk to to talk to, so I'll tell you more tomorrow.

—A very tired Max


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi! Please review! I don't own anything, and enjoy!**

Hello again. This is Maximum Ride, the girl who one of these days might actually get to sleep for more than four hours. I'll let you know when that happens. Possibly never.

All right, so. I apologize for the cliffhanger, but we had… guests.

So I let them in, of course, albeit grudgingly in Jeb's case (ooh, look at me, 'albeit'. Those six months total of high school really paid off), and Jeb continued right into the kitchen and sat at the table.

"Max, how are you? Are you all right?" my mom immediately said.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said. She pulled me into a hug anyway, and I hugged her back—I still don't take those for granted, and I was really glad for the proof that she was still alive, but I wanted to know what they were doing here… and how they knew we were there. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We wanted to make sure you were all right," she said.

"We?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

She sighed. "Jeb really does care about you, Max."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "Have you forgotten that he left us here when I was 12? And sent his seven-year-old son to kill us? And tried to come back out of the blue and take over again for no reason when he had absolutely no right? And tried to kill Fang? Have you forgotten the whole jail-cell-because-he's-criminally-insane thing?"

She sighed. "Honey, I haven't forgotten any of that. But he really cares about you, even if he doesn't show it very well sometimes."

I sighed. "That's so screwed up."

"I never said it wasn't, sweetie. But you have to give him a little bit of a chance. We've got information, anyway."

"Why can't you tell me here?" I asked. She looked over my shoulder at the rest of the flock. I sighed. "Guys, go upstairs, okay? Mom, I'll be right in." She went into the kitchen, too, and they all started to walk upstairs. I shouted as an afterthought, "Ella can have my bed, I'll sleep on the couch later. Iggy, that means _Ella._ As in, only Ella. Got it?" I heard a small groan and shuffling footsteps towards the boys' room. Fang started up the stairs and I stopped him. "Where are you going? You're coming with me," I said, and we both went into the kitchen.

Jeb immediately frowned when he saw Fang. "No, we need to talk to you alone, Maximum," Jeb said.

"Too bad. You get both of us or neither of us," I said, and he sighed. My mom smiled a little.

"Fine," he said. "Listen to me. We think we have a pretty good idea of who sent those assassins to the island."

I sat up a little straighter. "Who?"

"Well, we've been looking at anyone who's been interested in either you or recombinant-DNA theory in general—" my mom began.

"Like you?" Fang asked, and I looked at him in shock.

My mom went red and asked, "How did you even know that?"

"Back at your house a few years ago, I found books on your bookshelf about birds and DNA, and between them, a picture of baby Gazzy," he said. I remembered that.

"What are you trying to imply?" Jeb asked him, low traces of a threat in his voice. I stiffened, prepared to stop the fighting if it came to it—though honestly I'd like to take a swing at Jeb myself.

"Nothing, just… I'm not sure we can afford to trust anyone anymore," Fang said quietly.

"Okay," I said, standing up. "Can I talk to you?" He shrugged infuriatingly and walked into the hallway. I immediately told him, "That was totally out of line."

"Why?" he asked. "She's a doctor with some incriminating stuff in her house, plus she would've been able to tell them where to go. It makes sense."

I shook my head. "No. Not Mom. She's not a whitecoat, Fang!"

"How can you be sure?"

"Because I am! Do you have a problem with that? Because if you do, then go upstairs and shut up!"

"Fine!" he shouted and stomped up the staircase. I groaned and went back into the kitchen.

"Sorry," I sighed, and sat back down. My mom looked at me, slightly concerned. I shook my head—I'm fine.

"All right, well," Jeb said, "we've been looking into everyone who's ever shown an interest in you. We think we may have found ties to Dr. Gunther-Hagen."

My eyes widened. "He's dead," I said shortly.

"Apparently not," Jeb sighed. "And we said ties, Max, not—"

"Yeah, whatever," I said. "I'm going upstairs. You can have the living room."

"I thought you gave Ella your room," Jeb said.

"I'll figure it out," I sighed, and started to walk up the stairs. I didn't want to think about anything—not Dr. G-H, not Fang, definitely not Mom's Itex-y hobby. Before I could even get halfway up, I heard my mom say to Jeb, "She knows I'm not a part of any of this, right?" I stopped and went back downstairs to listen.

"I'm sure she does, Valencia," Jeb said. So they're on first name terms now? "But maybe you should have hidden those better—"

"Excuse me?" she gasped. I knew that voice. She was getting angry. Jeb had better back off. "Might I remind you that it's your fault I even had those books? Your fault that I had to read theoretical science jargon I haven't bothered to decipher since senior year of high school just so I could know what they were doing to my baby? The baby you told me that I couldn't even carry? I was already pregnant, Jeb, until you evil freaks decided to take her out and put her in a test tube! You didn't tell me that when you told me our daughter was going to save the world! No wonder I left you!"

"Whoa. Back up. What?" I asked, shocked, from the doorway. "You told me I was a test tube baby!"

"Well… you were, eventually," Jeb said.

"Wait, so does that mean that you… ugh," I shuddered. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"Max, get out, this doesn't concern you," Jeb said.

"Excuse me?" I asked, but they weren't even hearing me anymore.

"And to think I gave you another chance! To be a father, one who doesn't whisk their babies away from their wives so you can put wings on her and torture her until you see fit to let her out of her _dog crate_!"

"What did I do to Ella? Nothing!" Jeb yelled.

"Ella's my full sister?" I asked weakly, but again, they didn't hear.

"And what about Ari?" my mom asked, tears welling up in her eyes. "When I left you, I should have taken him with me, too, and look what it cost me that I didn't! I can't even look at you right now," she said, before dissolving into sobs.

I looked at Jeb. "Get out," I said. "Right now. Sleep in your car for all I care. You're not welcome here."

"It's technically my house, Max," he said.

"GET OUT!" I yelled, and he ran for the door.

I went upstairs and started typing. I'm going to sleep now—in the hallway, because that's just my luck. I don't want to think. I'll be back.

—Max


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi! So the first part was supposed to go up with the last chapter, but I forgot, so that's the reason that it's still the same day... sorry about that. Anyway, I don't own anything, and enjoy!**

Hey, guys. This is Nudge. I should really tell you what she didn't—it's sort of Fax deets but it's also actual events, so I'm just gonna… yeah. (By the way, it's 2:30 in the freaking morning. I'm doing this for you. So you'd better be grateful.)

First of all, they were fighting, sure, but they do that all the time. They practically fight over the color of the freaking sky. I mean, I'm still glad that it was nothing—at least I think it was nothing, because Max was asleep in the hallway and Fang noticed she was there and he brought out a blanket. I think he was hoping she wouldn't wake up, but she did.

"Thanks," she mumbled. He kind of grunted, that weird Fang-language I'm pretty sure only Max can even begin to understand. "I'm not mad, you know," she told him. "I can't be mad at you, too, I just can't." And then she told him about the truth about Jeb—and, um, what the heck WHY DIDN'T WE KNOW THIS?!

But he stayed there. He fell asleep in the hallway with her, it was really sweet. But their necks are going to hurt, because they're sitting up against the wall. Anyway, I'm going to sleep now, finally. Night! 3 Nudge ;)

Nudge really needs to quit hacking this blog. Oh, and you'll never believe this.

Jeb was there the next morning. In my house.

Because my mom ran out of the house at six a.m. that morning and found him on the front porch shivering. She came to tell me and I thought it was kind of funny, but she just glared at me and brought him inside.

Oh, and get this. He's so far out of line, it's not even funny. Does he actually think he qualifies as my father? When he came back in, he saw me and Fang in the hallway and freaked ('He was there with you? All night? You've got to be joking'), he asked me why we had no food ('You didn't think to stop somewhere before you came here? What did you think you were going to do in the morning?'), and he saw the gigantic hole in the wall and said, "Oh, well, this is a good place to sleep overnight in December. That won't freeze us all or blow snow into the hallway." That was the last straw before I snapped.

"All right, I've been ignoring you all morning, but I really can't anymore. I didn't know there was a huge hole in this house—Gazzy and Iggy were the last ones to leave here, not me, remember? And I thought I'd be able to get food in the morning, but I was too busy organizing a three-bedroom house for ten people and a talking dog! And yes, Fang was there last night, but for one thing, news flash, it wasn't the first time, and for another thing, nothing happened anyway, we were in a freaking hallway! _Shut up_! You're not our dad anymore!"

He rolled his eyes. "You're still too immature to handle yourself, and you don't even realize it." Other flock members had drifted in the room when they heard shouting—if there's one thing we're clearly drawn to, it's chaos—and Mom finally came downstairs from where she'd been with Ella in my old room. "You're shouting at me when you really should be getting food or attempting to cover up that hole or anything remotely productive. Instead, you're playing house while everyone sits around upstairs and waits for another attack. You're a child, Max. I never should have given you power, and I wouldn't have if I'd known what it would do to your head. I probably would have told you Fang was the older one. God knows he's the only remotely sane one in this house."

"I'm not a child, I'm seventeen years old!" I shouted. "And you're not my father, so stop lecturing me!"

"It didn't sound like I was the new favorite when you were trying to shoot me two years ago," Fang said, walking up behind me and putting one hand on my shoulder—thank God someone wasn't just standing there like a gaping fish.

Jeb sighed. "Fang, I—"

"Yeah, you're sorry, that's great," he said, "but I think trying to kill me is a little unforgivable."

Jeb looked from me to him and sighed like we were draining his patience. "I'm sorry you're taking everything too personally to see that I'm right, Maximum. You'll thank me someday," he said. And then he walked right out the front door.

"Good riddance," Gazzy muttered, and I had to agree.

"What are we going to do now?" Ella asked. "I mean, should we trust him? Is it Dr. Gunther-Hagen?"

I sighed. "I don't know," I admitted. "Just relax for now, guys. No one's trying to kill us at the moment, so let's just enjoy it for a little while." I walked upstairs to my room and flew right out the window onto the roof after grabbing a jacket. Snow was falling lightly and I sat on the roof, looking at the dirt paths carved through the woods and, if I looked hard enough, Jeb's car winding its way through one of them towards Denver.

"Hey," Fang said, sitting down next to me a few minutes later. "I figured you'd be up here."

I nodded, and sighed. "Do you think he was telling the truth?"

"About what?"

"Gunther-Hagen being alive."

"I don't know. He's been right before, but he's also lied before."

"I know." We both looked down at the ground, some twenty-five feet away. Our wings weren't tucked in—if we fell, we'd need them quickly. I'd always thought it would be so pathetic to die because you couldn't stretch out your wings in time.

"Are you okay?" he finally asked.

"Yeah," I said. "I'm just wondering if he was right about… the other stuff."

Fang was shaking his head before I was even done speaking. "No way. Definitely not. Don't listen to him. You're doing fine," he said.

"How do you know that?" I asked him. "There's not really a standard to compare me to, as bird-kid leader and all."

"Trust me," he said. "We're all still alive, right? That counts as fine in my book."

"Thanks." I meant it—I haven't exactly been encouraged lately that I was a good leader… not even by Fang. He told me my mom was a whitecoat yesterday, and I didn't think that was the worst thing that night, so I forgave him, but now I just don't know…

Why the hell am I telling you all about this? You're probably rooting for us to fight! Well, in that case, we're fine. There's nothing going wrong. Shut up.

We stayed on the roof for a while, watching the trails until Gazzy came to find us, complaining about food. Iggy and Ella went to the store for food after he muttered under his breath about how Jeb was right about one thing. I basically collapsed on the couch, Fang following my lead.

We're all sitting around in the living room waiting for some kind of food right now—I'm typing this as we're all sitting around the couch. So I'll keep you posted, and I think Iggy and Ella are here with the food. I heard a knock at the door.

Okay, eager much. Gazzy's coming, guys, calm down.

One second. I don't think that's Iggy and Ella…

—Max


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi! Reviews are nice. I like them. Please? (and I don't own anything) So enjoy! -Kelly**

Okay, so update: it wasn't Iggy and Ella. They showed up extremely confused right in the middle of things about twenty minutes later. I'll just tell you what happened. Sorry it took me so long, but this is the first free time I've had at all.

So Gazzy opened the door and immediately slammed it shut. "MAX!" he shouted. I basically thew the laptop at Fang and jumped off the couch, sprinting for the front door.

"What happened?" I asked, and he pointed at the door.

"I opened the door, and it wasn't Iggy and Ella, it was this guy, and he had a white coat."

"Do you know him?"

"I don't know, I didn't look that close."

That was all the information I needed before jumping into fight mode.

"Everyone get away from the windows," I called back. "Spread out, don't give them a huge target of all of us. Fang, get the little kids upstairs." As he ran past me, I added in a lower voice, "If you hear shooting, leave with Gazzy and Angel."

"What are you going to do?" Iggy asked.

"I'm answering the door," I said.

"You're not serious," he said, at the same time as Dylan said, "I'll come, too." I looked at him questioningly, and he said, "If it's Gunther-Hagen, he'll probably listen to more reason if I'm there."

I nodded and as the others backed away, Dylan and I cautiously walked to the door. I slowly turned the knob and threw it open, only to find one man standing there. I didn't know him. "Hello," he said in an accent I couldn't really place, "are you Maximum Ride and… Fang?"

"I'm not Fang," Dylan said as quickly as possible. "I'm Dylan." The man looked at him quizzically. He sighed. "Subject 12."

"Ah, yes," he said. "Forgive me, my name is Dr. David Byron, I come here on behalf of Hans Gunther-Hagen."

"Is he dead?" I asked.

The man simply smiled at me. "May I come in?"

And then I did what I'd never thought I'd do.

I let a whitecoat come in to my house.

"Are you insane?" Iggy asked me.

"Apparently," I said, looking straight ahead as I walked with Dylan and Dr. Byron into the kitchen. I thought for a second before closing the door. I looked at Dylan and whispered, "You can go out to the hallway if you want."

He looked at me, slightly confused. "I'm fine," he said. I nodded and sat down at the table, where Dr. Byron was waiting.

"What do you want?" I asked him. He looked a little surprised. Guess he wasn't used to people being upfront. Makes sense, actually.

"Ah, like I said, I represent Dr. Hans Gunther-Hagen. I actually need to speak to all of the subjects created in 1997?"

"Sorry. I was, and I'm representing Fang and Iggy. That's what you get, so talk," I said. Again looking slightly surprised, he nodded and sighed.

"I'm sure you are aware of the regeneration technology Dr. Gunther-Hagen was working on when his accident occurred?" I nodded and he continued. "Well, his research was somewhat destroyed in the… incident that occurred in March two years ago?"

"The incident was his fault," I said shortly. "So that's on him, not us."

"Well, the reports state that it was the avian-human hybrids from the California location that damaged the most research and property," the man said quietly.

"After he killed Fang," I said.

"Fang is alive, Miss Ride—may I call you Max?"

"No," I said.

He coughed nervously. "Well, ah, whatever the reason, his research was destroyed."

"What does this have to do with us?" I asked.

Byron smiled. "Do you remember Dr. Gunther-Hagen's offer, Miss Ride?"

I stared at him. I'd forgotten—Dr. Gunther-Hagen would give Iggy's sight back, if…

"Dylan," I said, "leave. Now."

"What? Why?" he asked.

"Don't argue," I told him, and he left quickly. "What about the offer?"

"It still stands," he said. "If you are to provide us with a way to replace his research…"

"Why now, though?" I asked.

"Well, we've been looking for you for some time," he said. "The island was a clever defense of Mr. Pierpoint. Regardless, we found you, Miss Ride, eventually."

"Was it you that attacked the island?" I asked, suddenly bracing myself for a fight.

His brow furrowed. "You were driven out? We thought you were just… tired of it."

"Of course we were driven out! Why would we leave if there wasn't anything wrong with it?" I asked.

Byron smiled again. "Actually, Dr. Gunther-Hagen's psychological analysis of you suggests that would be the exact reason you would leave."

"What?" I asked. He just smiled.

"Do we have a deal?" he asked.

"What would we have to do?" I asked.

"Provide us with one of the oldest experiments," Dr. Byron said, "and we will make good on Dr. Gunther-Hagen's offer."

I swallowed. Well, of course it would be me. "Fine. Let's go, then."

He chuckled. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, but not now, everyone's gone for Christmas."

"There's someone with the _children_, I'm sure," I said, slightly confused.

He shook his head. "We aren't the School, Miss Ride. We'll be back in the office on December 30th. You can report there between then and January 2nd. Do we have a deal?" he asked, hand outstretched.

"Where?" I asked.

"I'm sure you remember where."

I nodded. The building where Fang died.

We shook on it.

—Max


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys! Thanks for reading! I don't own Maximum Ride, blah blah blah... Please review? I like reviews... :) -Kelly**

Hello again. Still alive? That's good. You probably don't live in LA, then. Yes, I heard about that, of course I did, I'm on a mountain, not in a cave. But are you really going to believe a plague broke out by chance? Come on. I'm at least hoping that you're smarter than that.

Yesterday, I told Fang I had to talk to him, but the second we were alone, he stopped me and said, "I know what you're going to say, and you're right."

I hate when he does that. It's really irritating. Am I really that predictable? "Um, okay. Well, of course we have to leave. They know where the house is."

"Max, you didn't, you know… agree to anything, right?" he asked.

I shook my head. I really hoped he couldn't tell I was lying, but he usually could. I don't think he did, though, because he just nodded.

"We have to leave tonight," I said. "After dark. And I've been thinking…" I sighed. "We have to leave my mom."

"Not here," Fang said. "But I know."

"Just, in case I'm wrong, I can't have someone telling them where we are," I said. "But we'll tell her to get out."

"Ella?" he asked.

I sighed. "I think we have to take her."

"Why?"

"Because Iggy's already this close to a mutiny."

"True."

"So tonight?"

"Tonight."

So at midnight, I woke Nudge and Angel up and said, "Guys, get up, we're leaving."

"What?" Nudge mumbled. Angel nodded—I'd bet anything she'd read my mind earlier. Sigh.

"We're leaving. Byron knows where we are, and so does Jeb, and God knows who else. We're going, get up and pack."

"But—" Nudge complained.

"It's not a discussion, guys. Pack," I said, and grabbed my bag and went in the bathroom to change. When I came out, my only thought was thank God Mom is a deep sleeper. Gazzy was shoving stuff in his bag, practically bouncing off the walls. I knew that he was about as eager to be here as Iggy. Who, by the way, was already asking Fang semi-threateningly, "Ella's coming, right?"

"She's coming, calm down," I said, quietly opening the door to Mom and Ella's room. Ella was already up, changed, and packed. I smiled a little. "Heard us, didn't you?"

She nodded. "Is Mom…?"

"No," I said. She nodded. "Do you still want to come? You don't have to," I said.

She hesitated, then nodded. "I'm coming."

"Okay, well, come on," I said.

Everyone was waiting by the hole in the wall. I shook my head. "Guys, they'll be looking for flying kids. We're driving."

"I'm driving," Fang amended, and everyone sighed in relief. I opened the door. Am I really that bad of a driver?

We've been driving for almost eight hours now. Fang won the driving argument, by popular demand and will to live. So, Mom, if you're reading this, I'm sorry, but I really… I mean, it's not that I don't trust you, it's that… I can't afford to trust any adults, especially not a scientist. And I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but you're emotionally attached to Jeb, and I've only known you for three years, so I just… I can't be sure, and I'm just trying to keep the flock alive. And about Ella… Iggy would've staged a mutiny, and I can't afford that either. I'm sorry.

—Max


	11. Chapter 11

**Hi! Please review, it will make me happy. I don't own Maximum Ride. Thanks for reading! -Kelly :) (Oh, and there'll be a part two of this chapter posted today, too.)**

Hi. Okay, look, if you're a normal reader, I don't know if this will make sense. But basically, this is an open letter to, well, everyone I know. So basically: I left. To go to Byron. I had to go, I'm sorry. He said he'd give Iggy his sight back, but I wasn't sure they wouldn't do something worse—to you if you came, or to all of us if I didn't. And I wasn't going to let you all come until I knew it was safe.

So basically, Mom: I bet Fang's called you, or Ella, or someone. I'm fine. Don't call the cops, or the CSM or whoever. And for God's sake, do not call Jeb.

Jeb: Get the hell off of my blog.

Angel: I mean everything I said, okay? You'll be amazing someday, Ange, but not now. Fang's in charge, okay? And don't worry about me, sweetie.

Gazzy: I'm sorry, buddy. Watch your sister.

Nudge: Listen to Fang. And I meant what I said to you, too—don't let them tell you that you're still a little kid.

Ella: I'm sorry. And please don't let Mom freak out. I can take care of myself.

Iggy: I know exactly what you're thinking. This isn't some lone hero thing, okay? Shut up. And you're second now, so don't let Dylan take your place. He's technically four.

Dylan: Sorry for saying you're technically four, but I'm serious—you're not in any kind of authority okay?

Total: I'm not even really completely sure you can read, but if you can—if Angel will listen to anyone, it's you. So make sure she's not getting unstable again.

Fang:… You can stop calling me now. 37 times is quite enough. I'm fine. I don't know when—if ever—I'll be back, but I had to go. I'm really sorry. I love you.

—Max


	12. Chapter 12

**This is part two of the last chapter, sort of, just to explain why it's really really short. I don't own anything and enjoy! -Kelly :)**

Max,

Nudge helped me hack the blog. Sorry, but—well, you blocked me on your phone.

Listen, I don't care about your savior crap. And God, you're something else, telling me you love me after you ran away from all of us to 'save us' or whatever without even telling me.

We're coming. You can't stop me.

—Fang


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello, lovely people! I don't own any of this (well, my one OC I guess) and I hope you like it! -Kelly**

Hi, guys. Max here—I figure that you might need that now, considering how often people are hacking this blog. They came—well, I guess you saw Fang's message.

When I got there on the 30th, only Byron and a couple other scientists were back to work.

"Max," he said, a little surprised. "We weren't expecting you yet. Where are the others?"

"Not here," I said. "You said you only needed me."

"Well, yes, but I need Subject 3 for the operation," Byron said.

"Iggy," I said. "Not Subject 3. You're using our names or I'll walk out right now."

"Okay," he said. "Well, I need Iggy for the operation."

"He's not coming until I'm sure it's safe," I said. "That's what you get."

He nodded. "Okay."

The last couple days I've had an actual room—hey, not a dog crate! Good start—and they've only done physical tests that were basically 'run until you want to stop' and 'we're checking your heart rate, that's it'. So it's not that bad—but I'm still being experimented on, so…

And tonight, Fang bursts in the door with the whole flock plus Ella following him. I was actually talking to one of the scientists about the results in the lobby, so of course I saw them coming in. "What the hell were you thinking?" I immediately asked.

"What do you mean? You saw the blog," he said. The whole flock hovered by the door and Fang walked right up to me.

"This is beyond stupid, what if it was a trap? You would've walked everyone right into their death," I said, my voice slowly raising.

"I'm not going to go let you sacrifice yourself without even talking about it!" he said.

"I don't have to talk about it with you! You're not my equal, Fang!" I shouted. Byron walked in to the lobby then.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Fang's being an idiot," I said.

"Whose side are you on?"

"I'm keeping you alive!"

"You're not going to die to keep me alive! It's not going to happen!"

"No one's going to die, Fang," Byron said.

"Oh, that's funny, I thought that two years ago, I died down the hall!" he yelled.

"Fang, you're leaving now," I said.

"Oh, am I?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

"The leader of the flock, which is exactly what you told the world three days ago!"

"Wait!" Iggy shouted.

"Not the time, Iggy," I said.

"No! We're staying," he said. "You're not dead, so it's at least safe for now. And I…" he hesitated before saying, "I want to see."

"Well, if you would like to see sooner rather than later…" Byron said.

"What?" I asked.

"Uh, our research—you see, it was extensive, and I may need—in order to replace it quickly, you understand—another volunteer."

"No one's going to do that," I said, at the same time as Fang said, "I'll do it."

"What?!" I asked. "No, he's not."

"Max, for God's sake, you don't have to babysit me anymore!" Fang shouted.

"I don't care how independent you are, blah blah blah, I'm not letting him stick needles in you!"

"I don't care what you're letting him do, I can do what I want with me. I don't belong to you, and I'm not going to let you heroically go die for us slowly while I sit around and watch. That is one thing that isn't going to happen."

"No one's going to die," Byron said.

"I swear to God you will if you don't shut up right now," Fang said.

"He's completely serious," I warned Byron.

"Thank you, Max, I think he got that," Fang said.

"You shut up," I said. "You're going to take the flock and leave."

"No, I'm really not," he said.

I looked at him. He really wasn't going to listen. Crap.

"Whatever," I finally said, and went back to my room.

What is going on with him?

—Max

**I'm sorry for the Fax fight. Please review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hellooooo! Please review. It makes me very happy. Please? :) I don't own Maximum Ride, etc. etc. Enjoy! -Kelly**

Hello, world. I looked at the counter—I've got a good amount of people reading. But it's not enough. Tell everyone you know. I'm serious. Everyone needs to know what's happening. Because Byron's giving us shelter for now, but there are still people who want to kill us. The people who attacked the island didn't just disappear, and I have a feeling they've got something to do with the LA quarantine.

I've still got my own room, and everyone else has to share with someone else, but we've got food and shelter, and no one's tried to kill us yet, so that's good. I'd never relax in a place like this, but it's not as bad as I thought it would be.

Fang and I mostly made up— but I'm still mad at him, and I don't think we're really the same. He's the one person who'd never questioned my authority, and now he's telling me that I had to talk this out with him? It had always just been whatever it took to survive, but now it's different somehow. I'm pretty sure I'm still thinking like that, but I don't know if he is. All I know is that he was much happier on the island than I was.

We hadn't spoken since New Year's Day until last night. I can't begin to tell you how awkward that was, because I'm pretty sure Angel was using her Jedi mind powers to let the flock stay together as much as possible. But last night, he came to my room at around ten.

"Hey," he said. I didn't respond. "Everyone else is getting ready to go to bed." I nodded and looked at the wall. Finally he sighed. "Max, are you ever going to talk to me again?"

I sighed. "I guess," I muttered.

"Are you still mad?"

"Of course I'm still mad!" I exclaimed. "You went through with it anyway. I wish you were all gone, because at least you'd be safe!"

"I'm not leaving here without you," he said. "It's as simple as that. So if you want me safe, you have to come with us."

"That's not how it works, Fang," I said.

"Then how does it work, Max? It doesn't anymore. Not just with me. The whole flock. No one's all that little anymore, you can't just boss them around. You have to give a little ground, let them decide some things for themselves."

I nodded. "I know, but I should still get final say."

"You're right," he said. "Until your decision would get you killed. Then I'm going to have a problem, Max."

"Why can't it just be the way it was before? Whatever it takes for the greatest number possible to survive?" I asked him.

He sat down on the edge of the bed. "Because I don't like that system anymore. Not if you could die."

"Fang—"

"No. You aren't going to die, certainly not for me." He looked down. "I don't think I could live with myself. Knowing that I could have saved you, at least done something."

And then, yes, we kissed, you guys are perverts. But I figured if I didn't say that, Nudge would hijack my blog again. So we're fine, but… things are different. Because Fang won't listen to me anymore unless the plan keeps me safe. Great.

So Fang has been doing the same kind of stuff I've been doing. Byron says that in about a week, Iggy could have his operation, but we'd still have to stay for another week.

There you go. Your update. You should really start paying attention to the news. I know it sucks, but it'll tell you what's going on. We can't really work on it while we're here, but in two weeks, we'll be back on it. Until then, pay attention and keep yourselves safe. And tell anyone who will listen.

—Max


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey guys! Sorry this is REALLY long. But I hope you like it anyway. (And I don't own Maximum Ride. We'd have gotten a movie a long time ago if I did.) -Kelly :)**

Hi. This is basically my waiting room log, so I guess I'm just going to upload all of it when it's over. We're waiting for Iggy's operation to be over. And then we're waiting for him to be awake and… not blind. Right now it's 10:30 a.m. We just got to the hospital, because apparently they really don't have any physical medical equipment at the house. That's a little more reassuring. But I still don't trust them at all. Which I know makes it a bit weird that I'm letting them operate on Iggy, but… whatever. I'm not really sure why I'm doing this. I guess if they make good on their end of the deal, it'll be another reason to stay longer. Iggy's complaining because Byron wouldn't let him have food within 12 hours of the surgery. And you know how much food we need—he's practically snapping at anyone who breathes. Ella's really freaked out—she pretty much hasn't let him out of her sight since we got up. Angel's weirdly calm—no idea why, but she hasn't been since we got here. I haven't asked her why—I'm not sure I want to know. I mean, I love her to death, but the kid's creepy sometimes. Gazzy's on edge, too—constantly talking to Iggy and touching the hem of his shirt. We're all on edge, I guess—what if something goes… wrong?

10:40 a.m.—They just called Iggy back. Very cutesy scene with Ella—but I can't disclose that information, because Nudge has made me swear not to give what she called 'deets' and that she will do it before I upload. I'm already scared. Iggy just waved goodbye to all of us—some kind of attempt to be brave or whatever. Gazzy ran up and hugged him though, and I had to pull him off of him. Poor kid.

11:15 a.m.—Gazzy hasn't spoken. He finally started playing games on Dylan's phone after fifteen minutes of Dylan asking him. I haven't heard anything, which could either be really good or really bad.

12:05 p.m.—Nudge and Angel are playing chess on Nudge's iPad. Nudge is getting frustrated—she's lost all four games so far. We don't have the heart to tell her why.

12:35 p.m.—Fang just came back with lunch. Gazzy smiled for the first time when he gave him his pizza. He even made a big deal of looking like he was checking for bombs and everyone but Dylan and Ella cracked up.

1:20 p.m.—I'm getting worried. What is taking so long? Fang said he talked to the doctors yesterday and they said it would be done before 1:30. They're running out of time. Fang's right here actually—say hi to the people Fang. **Hi.** And that, ladies and gentlemen, if you can believe it, is the great Fang of Fang's Blog. He has such a way with words. **Shut up.** Nope, my blog.

1:35 p.m.—All right, they lied. This is getting ridiculous. **You're the ridiculous one,** **Max, they're five minutes over.** Hey! My laptop! I'm not the only one freaking out. The second it was 1:30, Ella and Gazzy started watching the clock.

1:55 p.m.—Byron came out to tell us that the procedure was over and Iggy's awake, but he still has bandages on his eyes and he won't be able to take them off until about 7:00 p.m., and that we could go back if we wanted to. The next part is Nudge's territory, but Ella stayed and Nudge stayed to watch Gazzy, who also refused to leave. So Fang, Dylan, Angel, Total and I left and Byron's driver insisted he had to take us back, that flying was too suspicious— sigh. I just want to do something.

3:30 p.m.—Nudge just called me and told me how cute Ella and Iggy are. I realize that, Nudge, there's no need to call me.

5:15 p.m.—Okay, so I went back. I couldn't help it. I felt like I was abandoning him. And yes, I realize Gazzy will read this to him later—well, maybe he could read it—and he will not appreciate hovering. But I just can't not be careful. I'm sitting back in the waiting room with Nudge and Gazzy. They're playing Crazy Eights now. Gazzy doesn't understand the rules and is having occasional outbursts. Ella's in Iggy's room with him—I wanted to go see him but I thought I'd be intruding.

6:00 p.m.—Fang brought dinner. I convinced him to stay. Nudge and Gazzy, um, fight a lot.

6:30 p.m.—We called Dylan, Angel and Total. They're supposed to show up in about fifteen minutes. I'm getting even more nervous.

6:45 p.m.—The others just walked in. Angel was still smiling and I finally asked what was up. She just looked at me and said, "Because he's fine." Okay, so I admit, it calmed me down a little. But I was still really anxious.

7:05 p.m.—They just called us in. Apparently the rest of the day is Nudge's area, as well as some things I didn't mention before due to fear of Nudge. So, I'm out now.

—Max

Hi! I think you all know who this is, because Max never says hi so enthusiastically—or with any enthusiasm at all. I honestly don't know why you put up with the way she talks to you. So I don't need an introduction. Anyway, so we got up this morning at about 9:00, and we didn't have to go until 10:15, so we just ate breakfast—except for Iggy, who just stared longingly at everyone else's bacon. I know, it was a little cruel to have bacon in front of him, but we don't control what they drop off for us, and it's not like we're just going to go on a hunger strike in solidarity. But Ella finished as quickly as she could and they went into the other room. I couldn't hear much of what they were saying, but it sounded really cute, and I guess they forgot the door was open, because they started to kiss and didn't really look like they cared that we could all see them until the guys started whistling and Max elbowed Fang and he shut up and Dylan coughed something that sounded sort of insulting and Fang gave him his death look and Max glared at both of them.

But like Max said—in a semi-breaking-a-promise kind of way—Ella didn't ever leave Iggy's side. They're so adorable, I just love them. They never fight, unlike some other people we know…. I think you all know who I'm talking about. Max and Fang are still totally my OTP though. Well, maybe Klaine…bonus points if you know who that is. When the called Iggy's name, Ella got even more scared than she had already been. He stood up to go and gave us a wave, and she ran up to the door and said, "Please be okay."

"I told you, I promise," he said, smiling, and then they kissed (!) The nurse cleared her throat after a couple seconds and I think she was scared of me because no one messes with my ships. Yes I know they're real people and I know them in real life…so?…Maybe that is a little weird…but I don't really care. "I'll be back, El, I promise," he said. Then Gazzy practically attacked him and Ella backed up. They kept eye contact while Max pried Gazzy off of him and then he went inside.

Ella was totally freaked out while he was in surgery, especially when we didn't know how it was going. At 1:45, when they told us, Ella was beyond relieved. When he told us we could leave, Ella refused and so did Gazzy. I offered to watch Gazzy in the name of journalism, because I knew she was going to go see him.

I may or may not have sat in the hallway behind the door to Iggy's room taking notes. I know, I know, creepy invasion of privacy, whatever. You want to hear it anyway, I know you do. I didn't hear the beginning, because it took a little time to bribe Gazzy with chocolate from the vending machine to not tell them I was there. But anyway, once I did:

"What if it didn't work, El?" he asked. "I mean, I can't see anything behind these damn bandages, so how do I know it worked?"

"Angel told me it did," Ella said.

"Whoa, what? She knows? Did she read Byron's mind?"

"I don't know. I guess I looked pretty worried, because she sat down next to me and just told me you were fine and it worked."

"El, I told you not to worry about me," he said.

She laughed a little. "I couldn't help it. Sorry," she said.

"I forgive you," he said, and she laughed. Then it was quiet for a few seconds. I think they kissed.

"I'm worried, though, Ella," he said quietly.

"Why? If it worked…"

"I'm worried about it working."

"Huh?"

"I mean, I can't read, but I'm 17, and I won't have a disability excuse. I'm used to feeling things to get a description—I think it could be like a shock to my system if I can just look at something and go, 'Oh, that's a chair', without touching it, or sitting in it, or even having someone tell me there's a chair there. I'm used to doing things without seeing. What if I can't do those things anymore because I'll have to do them a different way? What if I just become useless, like a three-year-old, who can't read or do anything?"

"Iggy, you're not useless."

"How do you know?" he sounded genuinely scared. Poor Iggy. I can't even imagine what it must be like.

"I'll help you," she said.

"You will?"

"As much as I can. I'll teach you to read, at least."

There was a little pause before he said, "Thanks, El."

And then I went back to Gazzy because I started to feel intrude-y.

And now I get to narrate the first time he sees in thirteen years! Ahh, pressure. Okay.

We got called back. Ella was already sitting there, and Dr. Byron smiled when he saw us. "The operation was a complete success! Iggy, you can take the bandages off now."

"Wait," he said. "Where's Ella?"

"Uh, on your right," he said.

"I'm right here, Iggy," she said, and she touched his hand. "Why?"

"Nothing," he said. He took off the bandages and immediately covered his eyes. "Damn, it's bright! How do you people live like this?"

Ella started to giggle. "It really worked!" she squealed. Even Fang was smiling. Iggy slowly uncovered his eyes, blinking a little, trying to adjust his eyes.

"Uh, wow," he said quietly when he finally uncovered them completely.

"What?" Ella asked.

"Uh, it's just… you're beautiful," he mumbled. "I mean, I always knew you were, but uh… how the heck could you possibly be attracted to me?"

Ella grinned and kissed him. He looked up at all of us then and said, "Gazzy? That's not what I pictured." Gazzy grinned and ran over to his bed and hugged him. "Hey, Nudge isn't a baby!" I rolled my eyes—just because I was a baby when he saw me doesn't mean…

And then he started to act like Iggy again. "Wow, Max, you got hot since you were four. I'm starting to see your point, Fang." I think he was lucky he just had a major life moment, or he might have been dead. Oh, great, he'll be an even bigger sexist pig now. Joy.

We went home then—Iggy got very excited when we gave him food. It's kinda late now and this chapter was really long so I'm going to go. One last thing—Iggy and Ella snuck out a half hour ago. :) Okay, bye! 3 Nudge ;)


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey! I don't own Maximum Ride, pleeeaase review/follow, and enjoy! -Kelly :)**

Okay. So a lot has happened.

First, I didn't even think about Iggy not being able to read. Ella's trying to teach him, and it's really cute, but I'm skeptical if it'll actually work. It feels like there's never any progress, and she's just reading to him, like she always did. And Fang and I have continued the experiments, but something… happened today.

Byron decided to start psych tests, and his first one was a room that would essentially look in our brains for our deepest fears, desires, thoughts, whatever, and show them to us. They had to take a scan of our brains in this awkward tube thing and it took forever. Then they led us into the room.

"So what do we do exactly?" I asked him.

"Nothing, just react normally," he said. "Oh, and you'll see faint versions of the other's projections as well. I'll be watching on the surveillance camera. We just want to see what you're thinking."

"Um, okay," I said. "Let's go, Fang." We walked in.

The first thing I saw was a tiny dog crate. I shuddered and walked quickly past it. The room was big, like a gym or something. Fang was walking the other way. "Where are you going?" I asked him.

"Don't you see it? There's something on the floor," he said, pointing. "It's flickering, though. I think it's yours." I looked and saw Angel's shoe from Paris, the exact one we found in the rubble after the bomb with the blood stain. I backed away right into Fang. "Max? What is it?" he asked.

"Angel's shoe from Paris," I whispered. He didn't respond, just pulled me the other way. And then he stopped dead. "What?" I asked, twisting around to see. I could see a quickly flickering…something, I don't know—wait, it looks like a bed. "That's a pretty weird fear," I said. He looked at me quickly.

"Do you see it?"

"Not all of it, I see a bed I think—" he walked away really quickly. "What is it, Fang?" I asked.

"Not a fear," he said as he walked away even faster.

"Um, okay?" I mumbled, and then I froze.

Fang was on the floor. And he was dead.

"Fang!" I shouted. There was blood coming from his head, his eyes were glazed over—definitely dead.

"What?" he asked.

Wait, what?

"But—you're—"

He was there in a second. "What is it, Max? I can't see it at all. Is there something there?"

"Uh, yeah, it's—it's fine," I said shakily.

I got up and walked away—

Oh. Oh. Ohhh.

I could see the whole thing now.

Okay.

Right.

That.

"Max?" he asked. He frowned. "What, again?"

"You can see it?" I asked frantically. Wait one second. "Again?!"

"Huh?"

"It's not yours, you idiot!" Oops. What did I just admit? "I mean—stop laughing!"

"I'm not laughing!" he insisted.

"Oh yeah, sure. But—what do you mean, again?!"

"Are you really yelling at me for something that was in your head?"

"I didn't even know it was in my head!"

The lights came on. Byron walked in.

Oh my freaking God, he was watching, and he could see all the projections.

"Thank you, for the…" he cleared his throat humiliatingly. "Information."

I could feel myself blushing. "Uh, yeah."

We both walked out, an awkward foot of space between us.

He came into my room later.

"If you're here to laugh at me some more…" I grumbled.

"No," he said, sitting down next to me. "It was mine, too."

"Yeah," I said, trying to look like my shoes were fascinating.

"Max," he said quietly. I looked up. "You don't want to have that conversation. Fine." I sighed in relief. "But I want to know what I couldn't see. And why it affected you so much."

"It was nothing," I said. "Just… it was my mom dead."

"Oh," he said. "Sorry."

"Yeah, whatever."

"I'm going to go."

"Wait," I said. He looked back at me. "Stay?" I asked. I sounded like a five-year-old. He nodded.

Oh, shut up, Fang-girls.

But I was thinking about what I saw. (Not _that_! Get your minds out of the gutter!) I was thinking about seeing Fang dead. That it was one of my worst fears. Someone could use that. And I was thinking about what Fang had said, that the system didn't work anymore because he couldn't possibly let me get hurt, no matter what that meant.

That's what I'm worried about. That he's in danger.

As long as he means that much to me.

Last night I made a decision that I never thought I would ever make.

And I know that I have to.

—Max


	17. Chapter 17

**Hi! So this was supposed to go up yesterday but I was really busy and just totally forgot. So I don't own Maximum Ride, please review, and... yeah. Thanks! :)**

Hi, it's Ella. And Nudge! I was about to type that, Nudge. I know, but— Please give me the laptop back. Fine. This is confusing, I'm making your text bolded. **Okay. Oh, that is much better! **Yeah, I thought so. Okay, so Ella and Nudge here, filling in for Max. Because Max is a little… **Busy. Or heartbroken. **Whichever you prefer. Really, though. It's been 24 hours since— I mean, I get what she's going through, but… **Have a heart, Ella! She's so beyond sad. It's really bad. She's barely left her bed. Just to do the tests. Byron wanted an explanation, she nearly killed him. **Nudge, they don't actually have an explanation yet. **Oh, yeah. Uh… Max and Fang split up. **Max told him to leave. **She told him she didn't love him anymore. **It was awful, really it was. **But there's gotta be a reason! **Yeah, honestly I don't believe her. **Of course she still loves him, she's been practically catatonic! **How do you know all these words? I'm the one who went to school. **I don't know, but I'm upset! **You're upset? We had to bring her breakfast upstairs because she wouldn't come down. It's one of the only things she's eaten since. **I feel so bad for her. Do you think someone's forcing her? **I don't think so. It's Max. She'd practically kill anyone who tried to get rid of Fang. **Maybe she's protecting him. I mean, she wanted him to leave before. **But they made up after that. I don't get it. **But Fang, if you're reading this… she still loves you, I know she does. **We miss you, too. You're family anyway. I don't care what happened between you and Max. **And you aren't answering your phone, idiot. We've been trying to tell you Max must have been lying to you. **Definitely. Please come back, Fang. **Plus you're kind of ruining my OTP here. **What the hell is an OTP? **One true pairing. It's the couple you ship the most. **Huh? Ship? What ship? **Ugh, you're so ignorant. Shipping means you like two people together, usually fictional characters but it doesn't have to be. I ship you and Iggy, too, but Max and Fang are my OTP. **Okay, well… that's a little creepy, Nudge, especially with people you know. And totally not the point. **You're right. But if it helps… **Yeah, it doesn't. All right, well, Fang, I hope you read this. **Please come back. Max is a wreck without you. **Seriously, we don't know why she told you that, but it's not true. **Thanks.**

**—Nudge **and Ella


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey guys! Thank you so much to the people who are reading this! Reviews are good... please? I don't own anything, blah blah blah... enjoy! -Kelly**

**Hi, it's Nudge. **And Ella. **We weren't sure if you guys have seen Fang's Blog lately, so we're posting his reply to us here. **I hope Max sees this—I'm not even sure she's noticing that we're posting on her blog anymore.

Hi, everyone. This is a response to Nudge and Ella telling me to come back… listen, guys, I miss you a lot. I wish I could come back, I really do. But Max made a decision. I don't know if she meant what she said, but she obviously had a reason for telling me it, and I'm going to respect that. I miss her, I miss you, but I can't come back when Max doesn't want me there. She's still the boss. I'm sorry, that's just how it is. You guys can leave Byron Monday morning, so if you want to find me, be my guest. But Max doesn't want me there, and I don't want to go back to her if she doesn't love me.

Sorry if that didn't make any sense to anyone reading.

Fly on,

Fang

So that's Fang's position. **This is bad, guys. **But it's true that we can leave tomorrow morning. **Thank God. This place creeps me out. **Definitely. And by the way, guys, Max is talking again, and she got up by herself this morning at a normal hour. **I think she'll be fine. **And, Fang, I don't mean to remind you or bring up past stuff again, but… this is the same way she acted when you left after the wedding. Just saying. **That was mean, Ella. **Sorry, but it's true. **We're going to go now. I don't know if we're really going to fix the Max and Fang problem. **I guess. More updates to come—maybe even from Max.

—Ella **and Nudge**


End file.
